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Nokia N96: Multi-Media Magic |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
Nokia
has evolved its previous top of the line N95 8GB with the release of
the N96, a longer, slightly slimmer and fatter device that packs double
the storage, DVB-H TV, cool backlit N-Gage controls, a little kick
stand to make it sit up and beg and finally, decent thigh speed
broadband with HSDPA support. It weighs a couple of grams lighter than
its predecessor too.
Nokia has optimised this device for
watching video with the inclusion of a very neat looking foldaway stand
that lets you sit the handset up at an angle for easy TV viewing, if
you are lucky enough to be in a country where DVB-H TV is being
transmitted, that is. Of course in other regions of Europe and Asia
(including Australia) where HSDPA networks are prolific you can watch
the streaming video provided by your carrier thanks to the high speed
3.5G capabilities of the standard.
The phone is equipped with the
Nokia Video Center, which offers a single interface to discover and access a variety of
mobile content ranging from movie trailers and comedy to news from
world-leading content brands such as YouTube, Reuters, and Sony
Pictures. The Nokia N96 supports common
video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video (such as YouTube).
The
phone has a whopping 16GB of storage on-board and that can be boosted
with the addition of an 8GB microSDHC Card taking this to a (higher
than the new iPhone) total of 24GB and a seriously impressive 60 hours
of video content.
The N96 is a dual-slide like the N95 and has a nice, large 2.8-inch
QVGA screen, so watching video will be comfortable enough, but if you
aren't into that, there's plenty of other great ways the N96 makes use
of its display. The device is a pretty reasonable camera with 5
megapixels and Carl Zeiss optics all lit up with a Dual LED camera
flash and video light that will not only grab photos in low light
conditions, but will shoot DVD-like quality video at a healthy 30
frames per
second.
Once you've snapped your shots, the N96 has the same integrated A-GPS
(assisted GPS) and geotagging features found in other new Nokia which
allow you to link location data to the photos so your friends and
family can see where you've been when you upload the pics to a photo
sharing site or other online
community.
Of course with GPS on-board you get all the other advantages of Nokia's
personal navigation system Nokia Maps which now offers richer maps with
urban details and satellite views
and has upgrade options such as City Guides, turn-by-turn pedestrian
mode and voice-guided car navigation.
Alternatively you could use the screen to play your favourite N-Gage
games, thanks to the new back-lit game control buttons and the
navigation button that serves as a D-Pad. The gaming buttons actually
morph depending on your activity, so if it's music your after, the
controls will function for play, stop, forward and rewind as you
playback your tunes. Same applies for video content of course.
In short this little puppy has just about everything you could imagine
in a mobile phone, but you won't find it at all until at least the
third Quarter when it will hit the streets with an estimated sales
price of
approximately 550 euros, before subsidies or taxes.
         
Nokia N96 Features and Specifications
Video and TV
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Watch high-quality video on the 2.8 inch display
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Store up to 40 hrs of video on the 16 gigabytes of memory, and expand storage further with the microSD card slot
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Video playback at 30 fps, for a wide array of formats
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Access internet video feeds through Nokia Video Center
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Transfer videos from compatible PC, using Hi-Speed USB 2.0
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Watch Live TV (operator service using DVB-H or streaming over 3G, where available)
Music
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Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack headphones, built-in 3D stereo speakers or Bluetooth technology
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Easily control playback with the dedicated media keys
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Digital music player with support for playlist editing, equalizer and categorized access to your music collection
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Podcasts, stereo FM Radio with RDS and Internet Radio
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Search, browse and purchase songs online in Nokia Music Store (for availability, please visit www.music.nokia.com)
Maps and Navigation
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A-GPS receiver, downloadable maps and satellite images*
- Multimedia city guides and navigation services available* for
purchase. Drive: voice guided car navigation, or Walk:
pedestrian-optimized turn-by-turn guidance.
* Availability varies by country -see www.maps.nokia.com
Photos
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Location tagging of pictures captured, and online sharing
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Organize photos by albums and tags, and synchronize with PC
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Easy playback of videos and photos on compatible TV using TV-out cable or WLAN/UPnP
Explore
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True internet experience with Nokia web browser, featuring visual history, mini-map, Flash video and progressive download
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Get the latest headlines with RSS web feeds
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Nokia Search (local & internet search)
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Ready for N-Gage (when compatible version is available for download)
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Email (SMTP, IMAP4, POP3), MMS, SMS
Technical Profile
- System: WCDMA900/2100 (HSDPA), EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)
- User Interface: S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 and Multimedia Menu
- Dimensions: 103 x 55 x 18* mm (L x W x H) (* local depth up to 20 mm)
- Weight: 125 g
- Display: 2.8 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) with up to 16 million colors
- Battery: Nokia Battery BL-5F, 950 mAh
Media
- Memory: 16GB on-board memory, expandable via microSD memory card slot
- Video playback: MPEG-4 / SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, up to 30
fps, up to VGA resolution (scaled max QVGA on device, SDTV on TV-out)
RealVideo up to QCIF @ 30 fpsWindows Media (WMV9) up to CIF @ 30
fpsFlash Lite 3.0 / Flash Video in browser
- Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
Main Camera
- Lens: Carl Zeiss TessarTM
- Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2592 x 1944) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
- Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
- Aperture: F2.8
- Focal length: 5.2 mm
- Flash: Dual LED camera flash and video light
Operating Times
- Talk time: Up to 150 min (3G), 220 min (GSM)
- Standby time: Up to 200 hrs (3G), 220 hrs (GSM)
- Video playback: Up to 5 hours (offline mode)
- Music playback: Up to 14 hours (offline mode)
- TV playback: Up to 4 hours
Connectivity & Data Services
- WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
- Micro-USB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
- DVB-H class C, 470-750MHz
- 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
- Bluetooth wireless technology 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio, enhanced data rates (EDR)
- GPS receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)
www.nseries.com/n96
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